Saya's house is on high ground in the wealthy part of city
That's why I can see it from afar even as I run at full speed through the streets.
Actually, Saya's house isn't a normal house, it's a huge mansion.
I remember it has high walls and beautiful gardens. They're a wealthy family, after all. They sometimes appear in the local news.
Oh, they also have armed guards patrolling their property. It will be annoying to dodge them without them noticing me entering their property.
Thinking that way, I run and pass some cars on the road. I see some of them sway dangerously as I rush past them like a gust of wind.
The passengers and drivers rub their eyes in disbelief, looking in their rearview mirrors.
Maybe they think they need to go back to sleep since they just saw a human running faster than a moving car.
I don't care if they saw me. They can't identify me anyway. I'm just a blur in the darkness of the night.
"Tch!"
The streets are curved and winding, following the natural geography of the hill.
But I don't have time to follow roads, so I jump over a few houses to go in a straight line, completely ignoring the urban layout.
—Hup! Hup! Hup!
I climb up the street, jumping from roof to roof. And as I approach the Takagi estate, I feel something strange in my mind.
How can I put it? Mm... if I had to describe it, it's like a small dot on a mental map. Like an internal GPS telling me that there's something important there, or rather, something dangerous.
That something immediately reminds me of the presence of the parasites.
Because when one almost entered my brain, I felt that same annoying frequency vibrating in my head.
But I didn't feel that when I was at Rei's house and saw that worm crawling toward her. I only saw it with my enhanced eyes, I didn't feel it with this strange sense.
So I think quickly as I jump onto another roof.
It's possible that this parasite isn't just a free-roaming worm. But that the parasite already has a host. It has already taken control of a living body.
Maybe this is the second ability I gained from eating two parasites. One worm gave me the Knife Fingers, and the other worm gave me a "sensor" to detect parasites that already have hosts.
It makes sense.
Upon reaching that conclusion, I focus more on that annoying feeling in my mind.
I close my eyes for a second as I jump and realize that the point marked on my mental GPS points directly to the Takagi estate where Saya lives.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
I curse as I jump over another house, breaking some tiles with my feet.
I run over a high wall surrounding some property and then hear sounds that unsettle me.
—Bang! Bang! Bang!
There are gunshots coming from the Takagi estate.
That confirms my suspicions. They discovered the host of the parasite. And now they're fighting it.
I just hope with all my zombie heart that it's not Saya who's possessed.
Please. Please don't let it be her.
—Bang! Bang!
The sound of gunfire grows louder as I get closer. But I also notice that the source of the gunfire is diminishing.
There are fewer guns firing now.
That's not a good sign, as it means they're losing.
Normally, there are armed guards watching over the entrance gates to the Takagi mansion. But now, when I arrive, I don't see any of them at their posts.
I quickly cross the open gates without stopping and run forward along the gravel path that leads to the main mansion.
Only about 200 meters away, I see flashes of light in the darkness of the night from the gunshots.
—BANG! BANG!
I find bodies lying on the lawn. They are guards in dark uniforms. All of them have their heads cleanly severed. If I didn't know what really happened, I would think it was the work of a samurai who decapitated them with a single blow.
It's terrifying.
I ignore them, trying not to think about their faces frozen in expressions of surprise and terror. I run to the front door, which is completely destroyed.
I enter through the door and, with my enhanced vision, I see everything in slow motion as I focus.
In the mansion's large hallway, I see four guards with automatic rifles firing desperately. They form a defensive semicircle.
—Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Then I look where they are shooting, and what I see makes me gasp.
It's an older man. But his head is unrecognizable, split into long, fleshy tentacles that writhe in the air. And on each tentacle is a razor-sharp blade that glitters in the moonlight illuminating him.
Those tentacles move very quickly, producing chilling sounds as they cut through the air.
—Whooosh! Slasssh! Whoosh!
The bullets are deflected by the blades. And from time to time, the blades cut through the barrels of the rifles. They even tear apart the bodies of the guards who can't dodge in time.
—Sliiiirp!
A guard falls to the ground screaming as his guts spill out.
I look at the parasite man more closely, trying to identify him.
He is sturdy, tall, wearing a traditional kimono now stained with blood. And among the pieces of human faces attached to the fleshy tentacles, I see eyes that were once normal but now their sparkle has faded, leaving only dull orange eyes.
Ah, I see...
'It's Souichiro Takagi... Saya's father...'
Thinking this, I sigh with relief despite the horrible situation.
It's selfish of me to only care about Saya being okay. I don't care that her father is possessed. I only care that she isn't.
I'm probably a bad friend.
From time to time, when I came here to visit Saya after meeting her a year ago, I would run into her father in the hallways.
He was a rather strict man with an intimidating presence. And I remember that he never once greeted me kindly.
He looked at me coldly and suspiciously. Maybe he always distrusted me. Well, I can't blame him.
"Otou-san... please..."
I hear my friend's voice uttering those desperate words.
I look past the monster that was once Souichiro Takagi and see Saya
She is on the wooden floor next to a kneeling woman. The woman has long, elegant purple hair now disheveled along with sad purple eyes. She is bleeding from her legs where she has deep cuts. And Saya is hugging her, crying with tears running down her cheeks.
It is Yuriko Takagi. Saya's mother.
The parasite controlling Souichiro's body kills the three remaining guards with swift movements. Their heads roll across the floor.
Then he walks calmly toward Saya and her mother.
Saya, seeing her father approaching, screams at him.
"Otou-san! Wake up! Please wake up! It's me! Saya!"
Even so, her face is completely terrified. She knows her father is no longer there.
Her mother Yuriko hugs her protectively with one arm while with the other she raises a gun and shoots directly at the head of the man who was once her husband.
—Bang!
But a tentacle blade easily deflects the bullet with a casual movement.
—Pich!
I look down and see that the deflected bullet pierced my chest while I was running.
Hey... there are better places for the bullet to go.
Luckily, I'm a zombie, or else I would have bled to death before fulfilling my mission to save Saya. That would be embarrassing. To die from a stray bullet...
—Slashhh!
Another blade tears through the air with a sharp sound. At the same time, the gun in Yuriko's trembling hand falls to the ground in pieces, having been cut into several pieces.
"No! Okaa-san! Otou-san! Please don't fight! Stop!"
Saya desperately yells at her mother and father to stop hurting each other.
The parasite controlling Souichiro then speaks.
"This... body... no longer recognizes you... as a daughter. To me... you are just... meat."
The words come out broken and sound like metal being scraped by a needle.
Yuriko hugs her daughter tightly, trying to protect her with her own body.
She cannot move because her legs are severely injured. Blood pools beneath her.
A tear rolls down her cheek. She sees another tentacle blade rise into the air, preparing to attack.
It approaches them at breakneck speed, aiming directly for their necks.
Yuriko closes her eyes, accepting her death.
Saya screams.
At that moment, a dark spot appears next to the parasite as if out of nowhere.
It is impossible to see who it is because it is very dark below where Saya and her mother are. But the silhouette twists with quick movements and throws a punch with all its strength.
—Woooooosh!
The silhouette's hand lands directly on the monster's distorted face.
—Boooooom!
The parasite is thrown backward at a speed that leaves the sound of the wind exploding in its wake.
It crashes through the brick and wooden walls as if they were made of paper.
The dark silhouette runs at the same speed it arrived. It grabs the parasite, which has not yet landed, in mid-flight. And it jumps, shattering the glass windows with the sound of breaking glass.
Both disappear into the night.
Saya and her mother sit in shock, staring at the hole in the wall.
"W-What...?"
Saya stammers, not knowing exactly what just happened.
Did that silhouette save her?
I am that silhouette, obviously.
And now I have to fight a parasite that was actually my friend's father.
Shit!
×××
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